Respite
by Galadriel1010
Summary: After the events of They Keep Killing Susie, Jack and Ianto take a pre-Christmas break. Part of my overall story arc. Shameless fluff, not as angsty as I anticipated. Warning, involves religion.


**Author's Note:** And the obligatory They Keep Killing Susie fic. More explanation at the bottom

* * *

"I thought I knew her." Ianto commented sadly from the doorway, "I thought…"

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Jack steepled his fingers and rested his chin on them, gazing across the room at his young lover, "Why does it feel like I've lost another?"

"Because you've found out that someone you trusted wasn't just obsessed with her work, she was terrified by it." Ianto crossed the room and ran his fingers through the immortal's hair gently, bending to press a kiss to his forehead gently, "Are you okay?"

The captain sighed and looked down at the folder on the desk, "I… I need to talk about it, but not just now. How about you?"

Ianto smiled, "I'm fine, I'm just going to make a coffee, you want one?"

"Thanks Yan, I'm nearly done here. Just telling Jazz what's happened, protocol and all that. She wants to take us off duty for a couple of days."

The Welshman paused in the doorway, "I think it might help you to get away from here for a bit, yes."

Jack smiled, "It'll be nice to spend some time together. Shame about the circumstances but…"

"Yeah, yeah."

Five minutes later, quarter of an hour since they'd left the morgue, Ianto handed Jack a coffee and settled on the edge of the desk, watching in amusement as the immortal played with the CCTV feeds to give them some privacy. He'd got quite good at in the couple of weeks since they'd got together, so much so that the others had no idea there was anything going on. Until now that is, "Tosh saw us down in the morgue." He commented over the top of his mug

"Ah." Jack had been just about to delete the footage from the system but left it where it was, "I thought she was giving me a funny look earlier. Probably thinks I'm going to screw you over."

"I certainly hope that's your intention sir." Ianto smirked at him and took another sip of coffee

Jack merely laughed and beckoned the younger man into his lap, smiling as they settled into each other's embrace as if it were the most natural thing in the world, "I would never screw you over, you know that, don't you?"

Ianto bent his head to kiss him gently and smiled down at him, the expression clearer in his eyes than on his lips, "I know Jack, I wouldn't be here if I thought you would."

"Good." Jack kissed his shoulder and left his lips pressed against it, "That's good."

They remained there in silence for a while, finishing their coffees, until Ianto placed both mugs on Jack's cluttered desk and stood up, pulling Jack up as well and wrapping his arms around his waist, kissing him properly now that their faces were level. "Now, are we going to stand here all night?"

The captain chuckled and pulled away, dropping down the hole easily and grinning when Ianto slid down behind him and let him catch him. He carried the young man over to the small bed and dropped him onto it unceremoniously, jumping on him with a laugh. Ianto yelled his disapproval and tried to escape, but Jack was stronger and more experienced than he was and, if he was honest, he wasn't trying that hard. He managed to get Jack's braces off, then unbutton his shirt before the captain had managed to get his trousers off; he would never, ever be able to work out how he did that, but it come in extremely useful. Jack finally got frustrated with the number of clothes involved and undressed them both fully, dropping the clothes out of the way on the floor and kneeling up to look down at his young lover again. Ianto's eyes were bright and full of laughter, a miracle after today, his lips her swollen from kissing and his face was flushed. Jack's eyes travelled lower and he grinned, leaning forwards to kiss him again, "God Yan, you're beautiful tonight."

"Just tonight?"

"Well, no." Jack lay down beside him and pulled him close, "Always."

* * *

The next morning they were woken by the sound of the Hub door opening, complete with the usual blaring alarms, and Jack groaned, covering his eyes with his hand and smirking as Ianto reached for his stopwatch.

"Shit."

He sat up and looked across at his young lover, who was staring at the watch in his hands sadly, "What's up?"

"My watch is broken." Ianto passed it across to him and he ran his thumb along the cracked glass, "it must have been when…" He coloured, "yeah, that."

Jack grinned at the memory and an idea that flashed through his mind and pulled him close, "I bet you'd be right anyway." He wrapped the blanket tighter around them both and they looked up at the hatch as it opened, "We're decent Jay, good morning."

The teenage figure dropped into the bunker with them and she leant against the ladder, resting one foot on the bottom rung and hanging off the rung above her head with the opposite hand, "Morning guys, how are you doing?"

"We're good, how about you?"

"Oh I'm fine, just thought I should tell you that we're here." She grinned at him and pulled herself up on the ladder again

Jack blinked for a moment, then nuzzled his head into Ianto's shoulder, "Does she think we hadn't noticed?"

Ianto laughed and hugged him tightly, "Don't ask me, you're the one who went out with her."

"God, don't remind me, I refuse to believe that she was that young at the time." He pulled a face, "How is she my boss?"

Ianto laughed and pushed Jack so that he fell out of bed, "Come on, we've got time off work. The sooner we get out of here the sooner we can start enjoying each other."

They packed a few items hurriedly and showered together, taking longer than they'd intended because, just for a change, they couldn't keep their hands to themselves. When they finally emerged from the bunker, Jasmine was sitting at her usual desk working through a pile of reports from the USA. Jack grabbed his keys and tossed them to Ianto, "You get the car started, I want a word with our illustrious leader before we go."

"Okay, don't be long." The young man took a slight detour to hug Jazz from behind before he disappeared out the cog door with the bag over his shoulder.

Jazz turned around in her chair and looked up at Jack, smiling a greeting, "Heya you."

"Hey yourself." He descended the stairs and hugged her, smiling as she returned the embrace and rested her chin on his shoulder, "Thanks for doing this."

"Anytime Jack, you know that. I can work wherever I want to, any time you need some space I'll happily come and cover, I've got a UNIT squad coming over to help out, but they're not going to be in the Hub." She added to his dark look, "They're part of the security team that work at the tower with me."

"Okay, I'll trust your judgement on them."

"I'm glad to hear it." She studied him carefully with hre hands resting on his shoulders and reached up to brush an errant strand of hair from his forehead, "Are you alright?"

He sighed and hugged her tight again, then released her fully and nodded, "Not yet, I will be though. Are you going to hang about after we get back?"

"Yeah, I've given Gwen a week off to recover, giving me an excuse to cover for her." She smiled up and him, "Got anything planned?"

"Of course. Look after Myfanwy and Janet whilst we're gone, don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"Jack…" She chuckled, "Same rules, look after each other."

"Oh we will." With a lascivious smirk he kissed her soundly on the lips and left her looking stunned and complaining about his cheating.

* * *

Ianto leaned his head against the window and looked out at the flashing scenery as they headed North; Jack had told him to pack enough stuff for a couple of days away and had seemed… content. He was excited, that was true, but it wasn't kiddy excitement or the adrenaline buzz of a run, it was just a gentle hum, warm and somehow contagious. The young man smiled and closed his eyes, trusting Jack completely and letting the world flow past him happily.

He heard Jack chuckle and two fingers brushed tenderly across his cheek, "You haven't even asked me where we're going."

The older man's rich accent rolled through his mind and he smiled again involuntarily, "You normally like it to be a surprise." He'd turned now so that he was facing Jack more and his back was against the door

The immortal looked startled but delighted and reached out with one hand to squeeze Ianto's where it lay on his lap, "I thought we'd go to York. It's a gorgeous city, and I thought we could do our Christmas shopping whilst we're there, or at least I will. I don't know when I'll get a chance to do it again now. I've always loved York, ever since I went there with Torchwood 4. It's the place I go when I need to get away from aliens, from the rift, from not fitting in. When I was freelancing, I could get away more. York was my refuge. I've only been there for a couple of days at Christmas each year since… Since the New Year massacre. Didn't make it at all last year."

"Thank you for letting me come then."

Jack smiled at him warmly, "I want you there, have you ever been before?" Ianto shook his head mutely, "Oh it's gorgeous. All twisting cobbles and little shops and the sound of the bells ringing round the city. It's not Cardiff but it's… It's so old, it's the only place where I don't feel like old, because the city's so old."

"What about London?"

Jack shook his head, "I used to like London, but it's all glass and steel and concrete now, even the old parts don't feel old. York does." He chuckled, "Hey, if we're lucky there may even be morris dancing."

"What a lovely idea." Ianto pulled a face

* * *

They got a room in one of the big, modern hotels just across the river from the main city but only dropped in there briefly to leave their things before they were out in the weak November sunshine again, walking hand in hand down to the bridge and into the city. Ianto looked around him in happy delight, he could see why Jack loved the place so much, although it was more than a bit mental, "Now I remember why I don't go shopping."

Jack laughed and tugged him across the road in a break in the traffic, gesturing vaguely, "It gets better. More people maybe, but it feels better once you get into the Shambles and closer to the Cathedral. Hey, we could go to betty's for tea tomorrow!"

"I'd like that." Ianto shifted his grip on Jack's hand so that their fingers laced together and he swung their hands slightly, "I don't think I've been this happy in a very long time. Not since I bunked off school in the lower sixth to go to the beach. It feels the same actually, like we're doing something we shouldn't be doing."

Jack laughed and looked around to get his bearings, "That would be because the woman who gave us permission to come is seventeen years old. This way."

He pointed out landmarks as they went (mostly pubs, Ianto noticed) and they stopped for a while to watch a street musician playing a version of Sweet Child of Mine on the electric violin. Before very long they were wandering through the Christmas market, eating German sausage and oak baked pizza fresh from the stalls and picking out scarves and bags, pictures, jewellery and trinkets for their friends and loved ones for Christmas.

As darkness fell they made their way back to the hotel, grabbing more food from the market to eat on their way there, laden down with bags of shopping. They'd split up for an hour so that they could get gifts for each other, and both were feeling extremely satisfied with their choices, and with the company now that they were reunited. Jack was ribbing Ianto mercilessly, "I can't understand how you got lost in there, I really can't. It was just round the corner…"

"Yes Jack." Ianto smiled indulgently and transferred his bags to his other arm so that he could take Jack's hand again, "So what do you want to do this evening?"

Jack had looked startled again when Ianto took his hand, but smiled happily and laced their fingers together, "Well, there's some great pubs around and then…" His smiled became a smirk, "That bed looks extremely comfortable."

The plans for the pub were eventually set aside for another day

* * *

Ianto woke up and refused to open his eyes, cuddling closer to Jack and holding on as tight as he could. Jack's fingers were brushing through his hair gently and he realised that the older man had been awake for some time, although he had definitely slept. The Welshman sat up and stretched, smirking as the look in Jack's eyes turned from adoring to wanting in an instant. He settled back on his heels for a moment, then stretched out next to his lover again and took his hand. Jack rolled over and rested his head on Ianto's chest, throwing an arm loosely across his waist and hugging him close, "I don't know what I'd do without you. I think, I think I'd go mad if I were alone with all the shit that's happened this year."

"You want to talk about it?" 'It' being Susie

Jack nodded and sighed, "I think I need to." He closed his eyes and tilted his head so that his forehead was pressed against Ianto's shoulder for a moment, then looked up again to meet his eyes. "I don't want to believe that she's right. I don't want to believe that this is all there is. All my life, I've believed in something afterwards. It was what held me and my mother together after… After we lost my Dad and my brother." Ianto held him tighter at that revelation and Jack felt the first tear slide down his cheek before Ianto's thumb wiped it away. "We believed that they'd gone on ahead and were waiting for us, somewhere better. We lived surrounded by war, lots of people believed in the afterlife, something to reassure us that it would get better, if we treated each other like humans, if we believed. So we did, we clung on to hope. And then I became immortal, and it became even more important, because I'll lose you all, but I could believe that as along as I did my best, did my very best to protect everyone on Earth, He would protect you when I couldn't any more. And now I'm not sure, I've lost the one thing I was clinging to."

Ianto kissed the top of his head and smiled down at him, "There are no certainties in life Jack, we know that better than most, but there are even fewer certainties in death. Maybe, maybe Suzie didn't see because the glove was binding her to the Earth, maybe she wasn't allowed to remember, maybe she was trying to scare you."

"Thank you." He looked surprised when Ianto slipped out of his grip and started getting dressed, "Now what are you up to?"

Ianto looked at him with a smirk, "Well, I thought that if we're quick, we'll make it in time for the service at the Cathedral, if you want to?"

"Ianto, what did I do to deserve you?"

"You saved us Jack, you saved all of us. Sometimes, someone's got to give something back." Ianto smiled as he realised that, although he considered himself an atheist, he did have faith in a higher power. As long as you counted Jack a higher power that is.

* * *

**Author's Note:** I did have a really good sermon for at the Cathedral, but I got all of that out of my system by ranting at someone on Facebook. Just something I had to work through that turned into a story. Probably explains a lot about my version of Jack, and me I guess. Hope you liked it (Can you tell that I like York?)

For timing things, I've put They Keep Killing Susie on a Friday, then Jack and Ianto drove to York and arrived at about 1 in the afternoon on Saturday, meaning that they left at about half 8.


End file.
